One day we will look back at bariatric surgeries such as gastric bypass with the same horror and disbelief that we now look back on the lobotomy.
Don’t believe me? Now discredited, the lobotomy was once held in the same high regard by medical doctors. The inventor even received a Nobel Prize for creating the lobotomy. In its heyday in the 40′s and 50′s, doctors in the US performed an estimated 40,000, more than any other nation. Marketed heavily, people even asked for a lobotomy to cure their depression, anxiety, and fears. Sadly, some were even occasionally done to reform defiant children or subdue political dissidents. All without any research or evidence as to the long term effects. Thankfully, the procedure fell out of favor as doctors wised up to the fact that slicing into the brain in order to improve a patient’s behavior was a drastic, permanent, and irreversible solution that often caused more harm than good. But too late for the thousands who had been guinea pigs for this dangerous experiment, including famously Rosemary Kennedy whose lobotomy at age 23 left her a vegetable for the rest of her life.
Fast forward to today, and we find that surgically removing part of the stomach and intestines is the new fad cure for weight gain. What was once the last resort for those whose morbid obesity had become life threatening has now become the easy solution for anyone who’s ever struggled to lose weight.
Did you realize that gastric bypass kills 5% of patients within the first year after surgery? That’s 1 out of 20. Do you really want to take that risk if you could get results some other way?
Doctors are also finding that gastric bypass can cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). It only makes sense that if you remove part of the digestive system, then the pancreas, which is doing its proper job and releasing the proper amount of insulin for the stomach you should have, is now releasing too much insulin for the smaller stomach surgery has left you. So the suggested solution for these patients…? That’s right: surgically removing part of the pancreas.
What other problems will be linked to gastric bypass as time goes on? What long term health problems will these patients suffer from as they age? Who knows? The most commonly performed gastric bypass procedure was first done in 1993. It took 40 years for medicine to rethink its position on the lobotomy.
A simplier, less risky solution to weight problems… lifestyle changes. And if you need help motivating yourself to stick to your plan, hypnosis can help. Most importantly, hypnosis is noninvasive, safe, and has no side effects. Phone us at (716) 874-9050 to schedule your free screening today, and discover if hypnosis just might be the safer alternative for you too.